Lesley Roley

Lesley Roley
Short Info

From the Royal Albert Hall to Nashville, Tennessee, audiences have fallen in love with Lesley's pure, heartwarming vocals and winning personality. Her highly melodic songs mix elements of folk, pop and blues, creating a distinct, individual and classic sound. Lesley’s compositions can be heart-rendingly poignant (“Missing”, “Too Bad”) or hilariously vituperative such as the “Mr Sad”. All of her songs demonstrate an old-fashioned command of melody that means her music will endure once lesser talents have hung up their capos.

A large part of Lesley’s appeal resides in her on-stage charm and humour. She enchanted sold-out audiences at the Sage Gateshead and the Warwick Arts Centre when she played there in November 2009 in support of firstly, young acoustic talent John Smith and then the platinum-selling jazz chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux. All available CDs were sold-out as listeners demanded more of the sweetly narcotic effect of Lesley’s crystalline vocals.

Her career follows years of live experience, both solo and in bands, which also saw her sharing a stage with The Golden Silvers, Mama's Gun, ex-Fratelli outfit Codeine Velvet Club and The Joy Formidable, and her talent has also been acknowledged with opening performances for Katie Melua and Ben Howard and KT Tunstall and Martin & Eliza Carthy. After winning “Demo of the Month” in NARC magazine in November 2009, a successful A&R showcase in Notting Hill early in 2010 led to further interest in Lesley’s music. This resulted in a tour of Britain and Ireland in the spring of 2010 supporting Don “American Pie” McLean. En route Lesley acquired a new army of followers with a series of mature performances in some of the UK’s grandest venues, including the world-famous Royal Albert Hall. The Newcastle Journal compared her performance at the Sage Gateshead favourably with that of the American great, remarking upon Lesley’s “extraordinarily pure and crystal clear voice”. The Bournemouth Echo described Lesley as both “excellent and amusing”.

After regular sell-outs of her first E.P, her eagerly anticipated first album, “Way We Are” was released in October 2010, with a live recording following in July of 2011. This live concert recording features a 7-piece band performing a set that showcases both Lesley's excellent arranging skills and also her easy rapport with an audience.

In the summer of 2011, Lesley set off on a five week tour of Nashville, Tennessee, a trip funded entirely by donations from her devoted fans. As well as performing her songs at some of the most prestigious singer-songwriter nights in the U.S, including the infamous Bluebird Cafe, Lesley recorded a 4- track E.P with top local session musicians. The results are available to buy and download on iTunes and CD Baby and demonstrate a country-tinged edge to Lesley's ever-melodic compositions.

More recently, Lesley was invited to attend a song writing masterclass by hit song writer Beth Nielson Chapman (who has written for the likes of Faith Hill and Willie Nelson), joining a group of 8 other local songwriters who had been chosen from around 100 entries.

Since playing gigs in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland last summer, Lesley is currently planning her third headline UK tour, whilst rehearsing new material with a full band.

From the Royal Albert Hall to Nashville, Tennessee, audiences have fallen in love with Lesley's pure, heartwarming vocals and winning personality. Her highly melodic songs mix elements of folk, pop and blues, creating a distinct, individual and classic sound. Lesley’s compositions can be heart-rendingly poignant (“Missing”, “Too Bad”) or hilariously vituperative such as the “Mr Sad”. All of her songs demonstrate an old-fashioned command of melody that means her music will endure once lesser talents have hung up their capos.

A large part of Lesley’s appeal resides in her on-stage charm and humour. She enchanted sold-out audiences at the Sa...